Flour removal



Jan. 19, 1965 E. w. FRIES FLOUR REMOVAL Filed Dec. 28, 1960 ATTORNEY 3,166,004 Patented an.y A179, 1965V 3,166,094 FLOUR REMGVAL Edward W. Fries, Baltimore, Md., assigner to DCA Foo industries Inc., New York, NX., a corporation oi' New York Filed Dec. 2S, 1960, Ser. No. 78,979 7 Claims. (Cl. 599-352) The present invention relates generally to an improved apparatus and method for the production of comestibles. It relates in particular to an improved method and apparatus for the treatment and deep-frying of shaped pieces of dough. Y

In the commercial` production ofV deep-fried bakery products, as exemplified by raised doughnuts, the'sh'aped cut pieces of dough are subjected to considerable handling and transportation between the formation of the dough pieces and the deep-frying thereof. Following the shaping oi' the dough pieces, they are frequently deposited upon trays and are loaded into or conveyed through a proofing chamber wherein the dough pieces are permitted to rise under controlled arnbient conditions. The pieces of dough are then removed from the trays and fed to a deep-frying unit containing hot oil wherein the doughnuts are cooked or fried. The dough pieces are of a delicate and adhesive nature and during the handling thereof accumulate on.

their surfaces a relatively largeV amount of tlour which is present on the dough carrying trays and other dough handling components, In the conventional apparatus heretofore employed, the dough pieces including the iiour thereon are deposited into the deep frying hot oil. A large part of the our sepanates from the dough pieces andaccumulates in and is charred by the hot oil. This rapidly contaminates the oil thereby necessitating the frequent treating, handling and replenishment thereof. This is obligatory since the presence of excess our in the oil results in accumulated deposits of charred material which adversely affects the quality and appearance of the end product. Furtl'iermore,V conventional deep-i`rying equipment is generally necessarily designed to accommodate such deposits and is hence of increased cost.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide ian improved method and apparatus for the production of comestibles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for the production of deep-fried bakery products.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus and method for the pretreatment and deep-frying of pieces of dough.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for the pre-treatment and deep-frying of pieces of dough wherein the'contamination of the frying oil is minimized, thereby extending its useful life and minimizing the necessity for frequent Y handlin and replenishment thereof.

Still a further object of the present invention is toV pro- Y vide an apparatus ,of the above Vnature characterized by its simplicity, ruggedness and eiiiciency of operation.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from' a reading of the followingV description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein FIGURE l is a perspective view, partially broken away,

of a pre-treating and deep-frying apparatus' embodyingv the present invention, the trailing apparatus elements being illustrated by block diagrams;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view, partially broken away, taken along line 2 2 in FIGURE 1; and v FIGURE 3 is a detailed enlarged sectional view illusrating the manifold coupling and support arrangement.

It has been found that by subjecting pieces of our carrying dough to a jet of high velocity air prior to the introduction thereof into hot oil for deep-frying, a Vmajor part of the ,ilour picked up thereby and adherent thereto, which would normally free itself from the dough )and mix into the hot frying oil, is removed and, as a consequence, the necessary cleaning, treatment and replen islnnent of the frying oil is minimized,'thereby appreciably to reduce production costs.Y The novel apparatus with which the above procedure is practiced is simple and may be readily applied to existing equipment. comprises a housing or cabinet immediately trailing the deep-trying unit and has longitudinally spaced entrance and exit slots. A conveyor extends through the cabinet by way of the slots and includes an endless perforated belt. A pah of manifold pipes extend tnansversely across the upper run of the belt and having jet defining openings formed therein are directed toward the belt upper run and are connected to a source of compressedair. The bottom of the cabinet is in the form of a hopper or funnel which leads to a suction type air separator. Pieces of dough are fed to the conveyor and are subjected to air blasts as they are transported through the cabinet to4 dislodge flour from the dough pieces, the our being sucked from the cabinet by way of the hopper or funnel.

The conveyor then deposits the dough pieces onto a chute or conveyor which leads into the deep-frying unit. Referring now to the drawings which illustrate apreferred embodiment of the present invention employed in Y.,

Travelling along the length of the trough ll are a plurality of regularly longitudinally spaced transversely extending pushers 13 which extend above and below the upper level of the oil 12,.k Pushers 13aV are advanced at any desired rate, in any suitable manner; Y For example, they may be carried by and between longitudinally extending" parallel pairs of sprocket chains supported and drivenrby corresponding engaging sprocket wheels located in the trough ll. A deep-frying unit which may be advantageously employed is described in detail in `US. Patent No. 2,1 709,955, granted lune 7, 1955, to H. T. Hunter.

Located immediately anterior to or trailing fryingunit lil is a deouring unit le, which comprises a cabinet 16 formed of sheet metal or other suitable material and includes an upper section provided with front and rear transversely extending rectangular Walls i7 and 18, re- Vspectively, rectangular 'side walls 19 and 2l) and a top wall 2l. It should be noted that one or more of the upper section cabinet walls may be hinged or provided with other means to permit the opening or removal thereof toV allow ready access to the interior of the cabinetl for -cleaning, adjusting and inspecting purposes.

the cabinet front md rear Vwalls 17" and 18 are longi- It preferably Formed in ,1

aisance tudinallyialigned transversely extending parallel entrance inclined walls whichl depend from the lower edges of the i Yuppersection walls 17, 1%, 19 and 2t) and meet at the upper end of a depending vertical throat Zo. Throat 26 communicates with a suction type air separator of any well known type which draws in the ilour laden air from the cabinet 16 and separates and collects the our and `other solid particles. The separator 27 includes a blower whose suction end communicates with the throato and a lilter or a vortex type separator such as a cyclone separator.

Extending through the 'cabinet entrance and exit openings 22 and for the fullY length of cabinet i6 is a dough piece conyeyor 2S whose width is substantially that of the interior of'cabinetle. vConveyor 2S includes front and rear pairs of sprocketwheels 29 mounted on shafts 35i Vand located forward and rearward of cabinet` 15.

openwork endless belt 32 is Supported byandbetween `the sprocket wheels 29 and is driven thereby Sothatthe upper run of the belt 32 advances toward the deep'frying unit `14). Belt 32 risY.,advantageously. formed ofY coarse mesh woven wire cloth or screen, and prefer-ably consists of transversely extending rigid rods 33 interconnected and interwoven by highly flexible longitudinally extending widely l spaced wire strands. Conventional motor land speed reducing means are .provided Vfor rotating the shafts 3@ atv the desired speed in order that Vthe speed of the conveyor 28 andthe fryer tlightsfli may be properly`V correlated.

An endless belt delivery conveyor 34 feeds the `dough pieces tovconveyor 23, and includesan upper advancing -run at orslightlyabove theflevel of theupper run of con veyor 28, the end runs of conveyors and 34being in confrontingrelationship.,l A rst rotating roller. or rod 36 is located between the ends of the upper runs ofwcon` veyors 2g and 34 and bridges the gap between these upper runsl to effect the smooth even transfer ofdough'pieces from the one conveyor to the other, the rod being at the levels of the upper runs andv being suitably driven.

' `Extendingfrom the leading end of conveyor v23 Vis a chute or suitably driven endless feed conveyor 37 which is downwardly. inclined from conveyor 28 into the trailing end of the trough 11. A second suitably drivenrrotating transferroller or rod 38 is located between theconfronting ends of the conveyors 23 and 37.

ln order to remove liour borne Y travelling through cabinet 16, they are therein subjected Y* to a blast of air sufficient todislodge thefsurplnsour `carried thereby. Y There are provided a pair ,of upper loweremanifold pipes 39 and 49 respectively, located 1n n cabinet labove and below the upper run of the conveyor `2S and approximately midway between the cabinet front and rear walls 17 and 1S, manifold pipes 39 and 4t) extending for substantiallythe full width of the interior of cabinet 16. VLower pipe 40 is supported by'arcollar 41 Y aixed to; cabinet side wall'19 and is connected tatits Y outer endk to a feed pipe 42 which, in turn,V is connected .to a source of air under compression'. YUpper piper39 extends through and is supported Vby a'collar 43 alixed to a bracket plate44 having vertical slots'45 and 47 formed inthe upperand lower portions thereofy'the plateV 44 slidablygcovering a `vertical slot 48 formed in cabinet side wall 19. `Pipe 39-eXtends through slot 48. vRegistering with` each of the slots 46, 47 inthe bracket plate 44 is a lock boltY 49 having a threaded shankpassing through a corresponding openingin side wall 19 and engaging'ren Y aligned matingV nut aflxerd to theinner kface ofthe'side wall 1 9. n Thus, the vertical position of upper pipe39 desired, andlthentighteningbolts 49. Y Y

, The outer end of pipe39 `is connected byway ofsuit- Anl able couplings. and a'tleXible-.pressure hose 5l to the .y i

compressed air pipeY 42. Longitudinally spaced downwardly directed jet-delining openings Yare formed in the underside of upper pipe 39 along the length thereof, and

- longitudinally spaced upwardly directed jet-deiining openings 53 are formed in upper side of lower pipe 41'? along j Vits length. The inner ends of the pipes 52 Vand 53 are closed. lt.k should be noted that the air suction capacity of suction member 27 is appreciably greater than the iiow ot air through jets 52 and S3. Thus, all the ilour carrying air isk drawn through Ythethroat 26, and there is no new or air outwardly through slots 22.

Conveyor 34 may be preceded by any desired apparatus, at least one of which effects the application of liour to the dough pieces, and may include, for example, a detray unit,V

Aa proofing unit, a traying unit, a tlouring unit, a cutting. Y device land the like.

Equipment of the above nature is described in detail in US. Patent No. 2,897,772, granted August 4, 1959, to H. T. Hunter.

veyor 3ft-'to the conveyor 28. VAspthedough Ypieces are above land below to a high velocity blast of air directed against the llour carrying doughfpieces from the jets 52 and 53 to dislodge the flour from said pieces of dough and V,entrain the dislodged flour in the ambient air. The flour laden air will ilow downwardly in cabinet 12 and into.

hopper 26, where Vit is drawn by thedevice 27 which separates the lour and discharges,V the air.` The flour stripped pieces of doughr are discharged by the conveyor 28 onto the conveyor or chute 37 which delivers them into the fryer trough 1l' to bercoolted'and transported in the.

usual manner; However, by reason of the stripping of the flour from the dough pieces in the manner. and with the apparatus'as above'described, the contaminationof the oil is radically reduced.

While Vthere has been described hereinabove and illu-V strated a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it isapparent that numerous alterations, omissions and Y VYadditions' may be made without departingrfrom the spirit by the` dough pieces thereof.

Iclaim:` j l. An improved cooking cooking medium, a cabinet trailing said receptacleand having oppositely. disposed entrance and exit openings formedt'nerein, said exit opening beingf directed toward,

said recept-aclegan endless beltconveyor disposed in -said entrance opening to said exit opening and to a discharge end of said conveyor, and means toV direct high velocity air along said upper run of said conveyor, and air suctionmeans connected to said cabinet.

' 2. Anepparatus according to Aclaim l, .wherein saidendless belt is perforated. f

3. An Vapparatus according: to claim to a source of compressedrair and located in said cabinet above saidconveyor upper run andV having downwardly 'Y directed openings, formed therein.

Yfor vertically adjusting said cabinet.

4. YAnapparatus according to claim 3,f including means Y the portion of said pipe locatedrinl4 5.' AnV apparatus according to claim l, wherein-said endlessk belt iswperforateandV said means to direct high j may beV adjusted by loosening bolts y49, sliding'the pipe-.V carrying bracket lplate .44 upwardly or downwardly,V as

velocityair includes ,ai pipe connected to a source of,V

compressed air and located in said cabinet below said Yconveyor upper arm andrhaving upwardly directed open- In operation, the cut andrproofed'doughpieces D having' V adhering'and enlodged flour deposits .are delivered by con-V `appara-tus of the character described,V comprising a receptacle containing a liquid.

1,-'wherein said` pmeans lto direct high velocity air includes'apipe connectedV lower section of said cabinet below said conveyor is Vof funnel shaped configuration and said air sucion means is 5 connected tothe bottom of said lower section.

References Cited in the' 111e of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,236,405 yCleveland Aug. 14, 1917 10 Scherrer May 5, 1896 Kremmling 1 June 12, 1928 Whiue May 7, 1929 Lipsius May 24, 1932 Freies V Dec. 22, 1936 Kirkendall n .VOCI. 24, 1939 Gardner July 9, 1940 'Bradshaw 2 Oct. 29, 1940 Carpenter Ian. 21,1941 Hunter -v June 7, 1955;` Brodu'ck Sep. 3, 1959 l Telkes "Decx 1,1959

Ashley Apr, 4, 1961 

1. AN IMPROVED COOKING APPARATUS OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, COMPRISING A RECEPTACLE CONTAINING A LIQUID COOKING MEDIUM, A CABINET TRAILING SAID RECEPTACLE AND HAVING OPPOSITELY DISPOSED ENTRANCE AND EXIT OPENINGS FORMED THEREIN, SAID EXIT OPENING BEING DIRECTED TOWARD SAID RECEPTACLE, AND ENDLESS BELT CONVEYOR DISPOSED IN SAID CABINET AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID EXIT AND ENTRANCE OPENINGS AND HAVING AN UPPER RUN ADVANCING FROM SAID ENTRANCE OPENING TO SAID EXIT OPENING AND TO A DISCHARGE 